Author Archives: Andrew Jenks
Letters to Max
This intriguing 2014 documentary takes place in an obscure part of the former Soviet Union called Abkhazia – a tiny sub-tropical mountainous region on the coast of the Black Sea (“Letters to Max,” https://vimeo.com/89560258). This country of 242,000 residents, most of … Continue reading
On Hungary, Gorbachev, Fence Demolitions, Wet Kisses, and Collapsing Empires
Historians often say that at least twenty years must pass before people can begin to grasp the true significance of an event. The passage of time dampens the passions, permits a more objective view, reveals new documents, and provides some … Continue reading
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1979, the End of the Cold War, and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Nineteen seventy nine was a pivotal year in twentieth-century history – as momentous, perhaps, as 1945 and the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan; Iranian revolutionaries seized American hostages in Tehran and overthrew … Continue reading
Russian Space History — Philatelists
This is in response to an interesting comment on my earlier post regarding the stamp image I used, which commemorated Aleksei Leonov’s 1965 space walk (http://russianhistoryblog.org/2013/12/russian-space-history-transnational-culture-and-cosmism/#comments). The comment noted differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. Not only … Continue reading
Russian Space History — Transnational Culture and Cosmism
In balmy Culver City near Los Angeles, not far from the campus where I teach, there is a wonderful little museum called the Museum of Jurassic Technology (http://mjt.org/). The museum contains a Russian tea room and aviary on the roof. … Continue reading
“Brezhnev’s hospitality was effusive, if unpredictable…”
The words in the title of this post come from a description by Donald M. Kendall, CEO of PepsiCo from 1971 to 1986. Kendall met Brezhnev in August 1973 in the Soviet Union and reported back on his meeting to … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Cold War, Detente, Soviet Era 1917-1991
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Call for a Wider Perspective
Many thanks to Alexander Geppert, a leading figure in the history of space flight and European culture, for this review of two recent volumes on Russian space flight and culture (in which I and fellow blogger Asif Siddiqi have essays). … Continue reading
Miss Gulag
Our university is holding a Russian documentary film series. We showed one of the films that I reviewed here earlier (http://russianhistoryblog.org/author/andy/page/2/). Our next film is called Miss Gulag, produced in 2007 and directed by Maria Yatskova (for an interview with … Continue reading
900 Days
The Nazi siege of Leningrad began on September 8, 1941. It ended 874 days later, one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history. The Soviets won at the cost of more than 1 million soldiers killed, captured, or … Continue reading
The Nuclear Age: A New Documentary
People often say we live in the “nuclear age,” but what that means is never entirely clear. A new documentary produced by a former ABC newsman captures the spirit, or rather spirits, of that era – from its beginnings in … Continue reading
Reaching out beyond the ivory tower
Here is a first review of my new book on Yuri Gagarin. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2109/1 The publication is read by space enthusiasts and engineers and managers in the space business. I like the fact– which was partly my hope in publishing this … Continue reading
Death and Redemption – A Blog Conversation
Welcome to the third of our blog conversations. I encourage readers to join the conversation by commenting our our authors’ posts. The book we are discussing is by fellow blogger Steven A. Barnes (Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the … Continue reading
Posted in Blog Conversations, Death and Redemption
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Marina Goldovskaya: Chronicler of the Post-Brezhnev Era
My post is about a film festival that was held on my campus on March 18. We screened three documentary films by documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya. I emerged from the event, and also after reading her autobiography, convinced of the … Continue reading
Posted in Films, Perestroika, Post-Soviet Russia
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Three Songs About Motherland
My university (California State University, Long Beach) is screening a number of documentary films about Russia this semester, including three films from the esteemed documentary film maker Marina Goldovskaya: A Taste of Freedom (1991, 46 min.), A Bitter Taste of Freedom … Continue reading
Russian Airborne veterans against Vladimir Putin
Here is a great item related to the Russian protests making the you tube rounds (I picked this up via facebook from Peter Holquist). Below is a very rough translation provided on the youtube site. For a better translation, see … Continue reading
Hot-Tub Diplomacy and Star Wars
I’ve been reviewing documents from the Hoover Archives in connection with my latest project (http://russianhistoryblog.org/2011/10/transnational-history-and-space-flight/). The ones I’ve posted here, with brief commentary and historical context, concern an organization of astronauts and cosmonauts called the Association of Space Explorers, which … Continue reading
Desert of Forbidden Art
This 2010 documentary, which has deservedly gotten a lot of press, is well worth showing to students (http://desertofforbiddenart.com/). It follows a treasure trove of Russian art stashed in a remote desert region of Uzbekistan known as Karakalpakstan, where the art … Continue reading
Posted in Films, Russian and Soviet Art, Soviet Era 1917-1991
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Gagarin Coin
My man Yuri Gagarin gets another Russian coin from the Russian Central Bank in honor of the flight’s 50th anniversary last April. He remains one of the few official Soviet heroes to merit being put on a post-Soviet piece of … Continue reading
Stalin’s Daughter
The death of Svetlana Alliluyeva in a nursing home in Wisconsin brings to a close a fascinating and tragic life. The documentary film maker Lana Parshina in 2007 had the good luck of landing one of the few extensive interviews … Continue reading
Posted in Cold War, Films, Stalinism, Teaching Russian History
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The Summer of Terror
I just showed a documentary for a group of students here at Long Beach State by Julia Ivanova entitled “Moscow Freestyle.” Completed in 2006, it provides an interesting perspective on the terrifying summer of 2004 in Moscow — and one … Continue reading
